Thessalonians 1

Chapter 26

I finally manage to find the link to the live stream. Upon joining, I notice the chat room is loaded. Occupants spend time greeting each other and sharing about their week while a band continues setting up. A Pixie like woman, who appears to be the lead singer, walks up to the mic and introduces the band. 

"Ladies and Gentleman, I want to invite you on to your feet as we take a moment to praise him." 

A vast majority of the audience stands up almost immediately, beginning to sway and clap as soon as the first key is introduced. The Pixie woman joins in on the swaying and clapping before singing the first verse. 

"The head that once was crowned with thorns

Is crowned with glory now
The Savior knelt to wash our feet

Now at His feet we bow"

A Piano takes over as the crowd begins to let out a soft cheer. Gradually losing themselves further and further in the moment. 

"The One who wore our sin and shame

Now robed in majesty
The radiance of perfect love
Now shines for all to see"

Hands go up in the air. Some begin to grab their hearts and close their eyes in a meditative fashion. There is a strong spirit of unity that fills the room. The lead singer suddenly steps back to the forefront of the stage. 

"Sing with me if you know the song. 

Your name, Your name
Is victory
All praise, will rise
To Christ, our king"

The audience eases their way into the song as if they had already been trained on how to perform it. The transition is so smooth, it sounds like an angelic choir has presented itself out of the blue. The crowd continues to sing along so passionately, it becomes difficult to differentiate between the singers voice and the crowd's voice. 

She doesn't seem to mind. She surrenders to the experience and allows the crowd to take the lead. She continues.

"Your name, Your name

Is victory
All praise, will rise
To Christ, our king

The fear that held us now gives way
To Him who is our peace
His final breath upon the cross
Is now alive in me.

Sing with me!

Your name, Your name
Is victory
All praise, will rise
To Christ, our king."

The crowd is shouting and cheering at this point. The camera views in on some members in the audience who have grown quite emotional. There are tears visibly flowing down the face of some. The experience is moving. I feel slightly awkward, as I feel as if I should feel more than I do. Instead, I feel like a passive bystander looking at something perhaps too theoretically. 

The crowd begins to lead the rest of the song. The singer needs not send out anymore invitations as the audience is fully invested. This song seems to be a crowd pleaser. 

"Your name, Your name

Is victory
All praise, will rise
To Christ, our king

By Your spirit I will rise
From the ashes of defeat
The resurrected King, is resurrecting me
In Your name I come alive
To declare Your victory
The resurrected King, is resurrecting me

By Your spirit I will rise
From the ashes of defeat
The resurrected King, is resurrecting me
In Your name I come alive
To declare Your victory (c'mon!)
The resurrected King, is resurrecting me

By Your spirit I will rise
From the ashes of defeat
The resurrected King, is resurrecting me
In Your name I come alive
To declare Your victory
The resurrected king, is resurrecting me

He's resurrecting me
Our God is good, oh

The tomb where soldiers watched in vain
Was borrowed for three days
His body there would not remain
Our God has robbed the grave
Our God has robbed the grave (yes He has, yes He has)

Your name, Your name
Is victory
All praise, will rise
To Christ our king
Your name, Your name
Is victory
All praise, will rise
To Christ our king."

The song begins to wind down and I am almost disappointed. By this point, I have become emotionally invested. The singer smiles as she allows the song to fade out. The crowd continues to stand and worship until the very last minute. The singer invites the audience to have a seat before she closes out the worship. The audience swiftly complies.

"Thank you so much for singing with us everyone. We are United Worship and it has been a pleasure praising him with you all." 

The pixie woman blows the cloud a kiss and waves a few times before stepping off stage. As she makes her way off of the stage, a Man makes his way behind her. He takes over and continues to show gratitude towards the band.

"Aren't they amazing?" The man continues to cheer until the band fully makes an exit. As the spotlight fully captures him, I realize it's the man I saw on Instagram. He appears even more captivating in motion. He fully faces the crowd and allows everyone to settle down before introducing himself and today's topic. 

"Good Morning everyone. My name is Pastor Nichols. And today, I'm here to talk to you all a bit about persecution."

He pauses to allow everyone to tap in before continuing. 

"Now it's not news that Christians tend to face persecution. In fact, anyone who truly commits to their walk with Christ will often encounter trials specifically tied to this commitment."

I tilt my head, waiting for the man to reveal more.

"Now some of you, that are newer to your faith. You may be tilting your heads thinking 'what is this man talking about?'"

The crowd lets out a chuckle. It feels as if he read my mind. Flustered, I let out a chuckle as well. 

"For those that are tilting your head, I want you to hold on to this message. Because I guarantee you, there's a time you will need to come back to it."

He pauses as silence fills the room. 

"Today, I received a message from a close friend stating that he lost his job for offering to pray for his coworker during his lunch break. A woman who was clearly in distress, and in need of compassion and empathy in that moment."

The crowd lets out a moan of disapproval. 

"This is nothing new folks. In fact, many Christian's face similar levels of persecution throughout their walk with Christ. We live in a country that allegedly trusts in God, but get punished when that trust becomes a little too loud."

More silence fills the air. 

"Yep, I'm here to stir the pot today folks. I hope y'all are ready for this one."

The man is charismatic and self assured. He does a good job commanding and directing the attention of the crowd. 

"But there is nothing to worry about." He pauses to collect himself before giving his back to the crowd abruptly. 

"I have Thessalonians 1 4:5 up on the big screen today." A projector lights up as the bible verse is written in a text large enough for the crowd to see.

"If you guys want to follow along, refer to the pamphlets found in your welcome packets. For my cyber crowd, please refer to our lovely community of moderators who will have each verse we cover on hand."

The Pastor gives the audience a moment to open their pamphlets before continuing. After a while, he begins to read.

"Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God.

How many of us know people who are proud sinners. Raise your hand."

Audience members begin to flamboyantly raise their hands. The Pastor joins the audience, also raising his available hand. 

"How many of us know people who lust after the Kingdom promises, but do not wish to do the work?"

The crowd seems more hesitant, but hands continue to rise up.

"Ah, I sense the hesitancy with that one. How many of you felt too guilty to raise your hands in that moment?"

The Pastor pauses before guiltily raising his hand as well.

"Because, maybe there is a chance that you know someone who fits that description. But there's also a chance you fit the description as well?"

The man pauses as discomfort fills the air. The audience looks cautious. 

"Y'all didn't fling your hands up in the air so quickly that time, huh?"

He chuckles as the audience joins him in comedic relief. 

"My friends. It is not comfortable to be on the receiving end of sin. It can create a slew of uncomfortable and distasteful emotions within us. Emotions that remind us, that we are no better than those who Sin willfully, when it comes down to it. Because our fate, as human beings, is to Sin."

The audience nods, looking very moved by what the Pastor is saying.

"And this is why God teaches us not to judge, or attempt to call judgement over our brothers and sisters. Because if we cannot accept and forgive the sins of others, our Sins will not be accepted nor forgiven by him!"

"Preach!" A few members of the crowd exclaim as a spontaneous burst of clapping breaks out among the audience. 

"I know it's hard brothers and sisters. It takes immense discipline to remain strong in faith when the enemy is giving it all they've got to break you down. It takes immense faith to keep your heart focused on Christ when the enemy is doing everything they can to throw you off course. It takes faith, to walk in love after being hurt, and experiencing loss due to the Sins of man."

The camera begins to gauge the crowd. Several members of the audience are seen becoming tearful. The Pastor seems a bit choked up himself. 

"I remember when my wife and I first lost our daughter to gun violence." He pauses as tears begin to fill his eyes. Gasps can be hear throughout the crowd. 

"We were living in a rough neighborhood at the time. A community I felt called to help, that was in need of healing. As much as I wanted to place my family somewhere in the Hamptons, God gave me an assignment, and I simply answered the call."

The audience seems invested, anticipating what the Pastor might say next. 

"When my daughter was alive, she didn't go a day without being bullied for being the Pastor's daughter. And during this time, my faith was shaky. I questioned God, even doubted him. Losing my daughter was the straw that broke the camel's back. I knew the killer. Thought of retaliating. Which would consist of me possibly getting locked up and leaving my wife to have to fend for herself."

I study the man's facial expressions. His calm, spiritual demeanor has transformed into a machismo one. It's as if he is reexperiencing the trauma all over again. 

"Similarly, I had a close friend at the time. The only thing he ever really wanted in life was to start a family. He was so proud, pictures all over Facebook, when him and his wife had their first child. You would rarely see him without his wife and kids beside him."

Members of the crowd begin to smile, as if they've been longing for some refreshment. 

"But when his son got killed in High School. Over his shoes! Of all things. Some gangsters thought they needed to humble him because of the kind of shoes he wore to school." The Pastor pauses and shakes his head.

 "Let's just say my friend lost the battle with his demons that year. A few short weeks later, he had got himself a gun and retaliated against the kids who took his son's life."

The crowd gasps. The Pastor nods as if extending empathy toward the crowd. 

"My friend is doing 25 to life right now. His wife is left to raise a son, alone." 

Tension fills the air again. "My friends, revenge can feel so tempting whenever injustice sneaks into the equation. And that's what the enemy wants. You to react, to lose your temperance, and stray further and further away from God." He pauses to allow the intensity to settle down.

"I want you all to turn your pamphlet to the next page of your pamphlets." The projector changes to a new screen. The Pastor begins to read the next verse. His voice seems calm and slightly subdued.

"Thessalonians 1 4:6-9. 'That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified. 

For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. 

He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy spirt. 

But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.'

You see folks, vengeance is not yours. Never was."

A comfortable silence fills the air.

"It's always for the lord."

"Yes Pastor." Members of the crowd begin to praise the pastor, as if they need thank him for awakening parts of themselves long needing to be acknowledged. 

"No matter how unjust the cause, it's not yours family. It's not for you to handle. It took me years to release the resentment towards my Daughters killer. I wanted justice so bad, I practically demanded it! Seeing him behind bars wasn't enough. It felt like mockery at that point. I wanted and eye for an eye!"

"Preach!" Members begin to stand up in attempt to show support.

The Pastor paces around as he looks directly into the soul of the crowd. His gaze is fixed and intense. 

"Some of you have experienced injustice in your life. Injustice that could've, and should've turned you away form God."

"Amen!" The crowd becomes incredibly vocal. This is the most engaged they've been all morning.  

"Some of you have had your partners stripped from you due to infidelity. Your family turned against you due to Greed. Your jobs taken from you do to slander and corruption."

The audience begins to clap. It's as if the Pastor can see into everyone's unique story and validate each individual's maladies. 

"But the lord. He will vindicate you. I promise, he will friends."

The audience begins to clap and cheer. 

"Eventually, I was so tired of being tired, I decided to go down to the cell where my daughter's killer resided. And I decided to have a sit down talk with him."

The crowd grows silent again. 

"Brought him a coffee. Even gave him a genuine handshake. I spent months trying to determine what I would say to him the day I would be given a chance to meet him face to face. And to my surprise, nothing went as planned."

"Mhmm." A woman from the crowd is seen nodding and fanning herself. Her strong approval sets the tone for the rest of the audience.

"When I got to the room and sat before him, the only thing I could ask him is 'Why? Why did you do it? What prompted you to kill my little girl?' 

And as tears filled both of our eyes, the man responded 'I wasn't trying to kill her man. I was aiming for someone else and the stray went into the school man. Never in my life would I do that to a kid. I lost my little brother to a gun when I was only 13.'"

The crowd gasps once again. The Pastor nods, blatantly sharing their disbelief. 

"That's right folks. The man who took my child's life, was also a victim of the same circumstance at one point in his life. To my surprise, my wrath and genuine hatred for the man began to morph into compassion."

The Pastor lets out a huge sigh of relief as he continues to pace back and forth. It seems as the topic is still a sensitive one for him.

"And in that moment, I realized that the time did fit the crime! Because the pieces I was missing, the parts of my adversary's story that I was too blinded by emotion to see, is what led to that particular outcome. In that moment, I realized that God's judgement was perfect indeed."

The crowd begins to applaud in unison, as if they were attending a Broadway play. The Pastor motions for them to settle down, and calm eventually fills the room again.

"Some of you may feel like God doesn't hear you. Like you will never get justice. And it's because, there is usually a piece to the puzzle that your missing. A portion of the story that you're not fully aware of. And this is why our judgement is often so flawed as human beings. We are not all seeing, like God is."

The crowd continues to clap in solidarity. 

"Some of y'all, your justice came of the form of being protected from making the irreversible mistake of giving into wrath and falling into pride. Some of you are only here today, able to worship him today, because your faith was stronger than your pride."

"Amen!" The crowd cheers. 

"Ladies and Gentlemen, take a moment to look around at your neighbors. Everyone here today went through something individually while listening to today's sermon. You will all called to experience different feelings and reexperience different scenarios that you've encountered before. I want you to turn to your neighbor and tell them 'thank you for you sacrifice, thank you for your spiritual labor.'"

The crowd begins to greet and mingle with one another. The camera captures various people hugging and supporting one another. 

"That's the only way we're gonna get through this folks. We can't do it without one another. God brings us here to congregate in the church, so that we can meet him through one another. The Holy spirit lives within us, so that we each get the chance to encounter God, through each other!"

The crowd cheers.

"Through our compassion. Through our empathy. Through our generosity. Through our charity. Through our discernment, even. We better the lives of our brothers and sisters by walking in accordance with the scripture, and the heavenly virtues. Folks, I want to thank you for your energetic contributions today. We couldn't do any of this without you all."

People begin to take their seats. The online chatroom is filled with heart emojis and people sharing their testimonies. The support is overwhelming. 

"There will be baskets going around for those of you who feel called to give. For those of you who are interested in walking in accordance with scripture and incorporating more of God's will into your lives, please come to the lobby for more information on Bible studies. Other than that, thank you so much! It was a pleasure seeing you. See you again next time."

The crowd cheers with length before people are seen getting up from their chairs and mingling with one another. The live stream link pauses, but the chat remains active. People continue to interact with each other.

I hear a knock on the door. 

"Uh, come in!"

Dr. Leolios is seen standing by the door.

"Hey kid, I wanted to check up on you being that it's mid day. How we feeling today! I hear you took your first couple of steps?"

I smile before closing out the web browser and redirecting my attention on to the Dr. 

The Doctor comes closer and proceeds to touch on certain pressure points around my body.

"You know, you really gave us all a scare there. We had no clue what to expect for a little while. You must be a very special girl. It's as if God truly hears you."

I gasp. Suddenly, this phrase seems to be haunting me. I remember the man who occupied this room before me. I remember the portion of the sermon where the Pastor uttered the same words. The Doctor continues to gauge pressure points around my body.

As he proceeds with the exam, I see what appears to be the old man from the park and the garden. He appears as a cloud like vapor. He is smiling and holding his gaze, before the vapor vanishes into thin air.